Double D on the inside It's D for dumb, not D-cup, for The Amazing Race's hapless blonde duo By Jeanmarie Tan

April 06, 2006

THEY were nicknamed the Double Ds on The Amazing Race 9 because of their similar first names and busty figures.

But when it came to competing, childhood friends Danielle Turner (far left) and Dani Torchio also scored a D.

They were the Double Ds all right - dumb and dumber.

After consistently trailing at the back of the pack, the 22-year-old recent university graduates - also the youngest team this season - were finally eliminated last week.

Torchio and Turner never once exhibited a smart game plan - except for playing 'dumb blondes' and flirting outrageously and aligning with the strongest male team, Eric Sanchez and Jeremy Ryans.

Torchio told The New Paper over the phone from their native New York: 'We definitely weren't the quickest.

'We were just so overwhelmed that we were just trying to hang in there for the most part.'

Turner, the more bubbly of the two, added: 'If we had been a little more worldly and well-travelled, we definitely would have been more aware of the mistakes we were making. Considering all the things against us, I think we did really well.'

OKAY WITH NICKNAME

Indeed, the girls managed to squeeze a giggle out of everything - even their unflattering team nickname.

Said Torchio: 'Only because we both are D and everybody calls us D. Obviously we know people are referring to something different, but we think it's funny!'

Just for the record, neither woman has double D-size breasts ('We wish, but we're not! We're happy with our sizes.')

They also laughed when discussing their on-camera relationship with Casanovas Sanchez and Ryans - so much so that host Phil Keoghan said they 'had the most successful connections with the opposite sex ever' in the history of The Amazing Race.

Torchio said: 'Well, we're two hot young girls and they're two really hot young guys, so it started off like that... they're perverted goofballs.'

HIPPIES HOT, TOO Surprisingly, the foursome didn't hook up after the race - maybe because the women now have boyfriends - but they still keep in touch via e-mail.

But they joked that they were using Sanchez and Ryans as 'a cover' for their affection for wacky hippies BJ Averell and Tyler MacNiven - whom they thought were 'hot', too.

Torchio said: 'We were closer to them than anybody realised.'

Turner cut in cheekily: 'We threw everybody off by hanging out with Eric and Jeremy. Nobody would ever think we'd go for the hippies, but we were with them the whole time!'

The Amazing Race 9 is showing over Channel 5 on Thursdays at 8am with a repeat telecast on Fridays at 10pm. It is also airing over AXN (StarHub Ch 19) on Thursdays at 9pm.